A car has not to be cool, it has to be „praktisch“.

About nudity: Not every German is comfortable with being nude. But most German are comfortable with others being nude. On the other hand, many Americans seem to be uncomfortable with both.

Funny that you mention the smoking-issue. It’s funny because the situation has changed dramatically over the last 15 years or so. Before that, we used to smoke inside the restaurant, on the train, in the office and even in school 😂

The privacy paradox is not really that complicated. It basically comes down to consent. If I am naked in the sauna, I chose to. If someone comes up to me in the street and take a picture of me, I did not choose to be photographed. Not everyone likes to go to the sauna and not everyone cares if his personal information are leaked on the internet.

Point 4, cars: Sorry, but hatchback cars just make sense! They often have as much space as an SUV, but only require as much gas as a sedan (which is also an environmental discussion). And from the looks: you always prefer what you are used to.

the “privacy paradox” is a paradox only if you don’t realize that you use the word “privacy” for two completely different things. Germans are protective of their data privacy. Not so much of the “privacy” of their private parts. I don’t think they see any connection between these two things. Paying for bathrooms can be annoying, but it’s a fact that “clean bathrooms aren’t free.” Someone makes them clean and deserves to be paid.

The point you made with the German "privacy paradox" is very interesting when you look at it on the level of language, and why an American might be confused about that aspect of German culture. In German there are two words for "sphere of privacy": "Privatsphäre" (sphere of privacy) and "Intimsphäre" (sphere of intimacy). "Privatsphäre" discribes the factual information about a Person that one might not want to share: material possessions, salary, profession, address, browser history, etc. "Intimsphäre" describes the sexual and emotional aspects of a human being, for example how much one wants to reveal of his body to others, one's sexual preferences, the emotional opinion about someone else and so on. So every person and culture handles those two aspects differently, but granted, there is a lot of overlap between those two concepts. I think the easiest way to distinguish whether something is intimate or private is when you ask yourself if you don't want to share something with someone else because you feel uncomfortable about him knowing it as a person, if so then it's a matter intimacy, or if you don't want to share something with someone you will never know, like some government or company employee, or an unfeeling algorithm, because they could use your data in various ways you don't want, then it's a matter of privacy. EDIT: I just thought about something funny that illustrates the difference between those words further: "Privatbereich", which literally translates to "private area", means "private space", so a piece of land or living quarter you own and that aren't open to the public. "Intimbereich" on the contrary, which literally translates to "intimate area", means, and you guessed it, "private parts", which coincidentally also beautifully illustrates the difference between the English and German concepts of "privacy" and "intimacy".

As for the hatchback issue. We once rented a Scoda Oktavia for a family vacation. All the luggage easily fit in the trunk. Unfortunately, something was wrong with the car, so we have changed halfway that car. We got an update and tried to get our luggage into one of the SUVs, unfortunately it did not fit into any at the end we took another Sooda Octavia. In addition, in Germany we have a lot of beautiful old towns partly from the Middle Ages. The streets are narrow and the parking spaces even narrower. So we try to find a compromise between the largest possible interior space and the possibility to find a parking space.

We don’t need flags, we need foreign reactors to say that we are a great nation. That’s why so many Germans watch this reaction videos. Also to recognize that we are doing great. You are our flag 😁🇩🇪

I am a German living in America and enjoying these videos. Regarding swearing: Germans also swear freely in German and profanity is never bleeped out on TV etc.

I like the fact that nakedness is not so oversexualized in Germany, which is why Saunas are so generally accepted. There people just wanna chill and relax :)

on the nudity - privacy thing: nude places are places you go voluntarily, everyone is nude, you are often shielded from people looking in and it's understood as a photo-free zone. the privacy concerns we have are about invasion of privacy by making photos of people in public places who did not consent or worse on their property without their consent.

Refering to the privacy paradox: I think, or at least for me as a German, it's all about control. If you decide to go full naked in to a sauna it's your decision, you can always put something on, or stop going to the sauna. But Internet... that's a scary thing. Once something about your life is only it stays for ever and you have no control how it spreads. You feel powerless. So internet or recording in public is really sensitive. I try to leave no footprints in the web from my private life and it's hell of a work, bc every service, every store or app wants to collect as much information about you as possible. It's so hard to keep it all together, to monitor your data in the web, that we're more careful what we put up. If it's not online, you're in control. Meine Meinung, wie sieht's der Rest?

As a German I was in NY a while back. Was looking for a place. Apple Maps was a bit confusing as there where 2 similar named places but in different areas. So I asked someone in the street where it is. The person told me, it turned out to be 10 blocks away. I said thanks and startet to walk.With real concern in the voice the person called after me: "You can't walk, it's too far. Take a cab!". I walked it in like 25 minutes. When I arrived, the person I had my appointment with at that place asked me if I came with a cab or an Uber and I said: "I walked, took me 25 minutes". I got this stare and "You can take an Uber you know. It's easy: Shall I show you how to call one?"

privacy paradox: As a German, It's mostly about that we don't care much about things only a few people IRL can witness with you together, but we simply don't want it to be accessable to everyone on the Planet. If that helps understanding? It's how I see it

I once advised a German friend to be careful with saying f*ck, an English word he used very frequently. I tried to explain that it's usually not a word you would use in business, or around your grandmother. He was shocked: "But I hear it used constantly in every American movie!" Our media give the impression that "explicit language" is the norm, not offensive.

The privacy "paradox" you have is because you have confused "modesty" with "privacy." Wanting to keep your personal data hidden online is about "privacy." Not being bothered about nudity in certain circumstances is about a different sense of (or lack of) "modesty." The two are not synonymous.

"The Privacy Paradoxon" would be the same in America, but just the other way around. In the end nudity is something you decide to do. Like beach or sauna. Nobody tries to force you to go nude to a beach, there are specific areas. If you go to the web everyone tries to steal your data, you have no real choice here.

I remember staying at a hostel in Canada years ago. I went to the sauna and found out that people wore their bathing suits in the sauna. I was shocked and retreated because I was naked under my robe 😂 It deemed me very uncomfortable to wear a bathing suit in a sauna …

The privacy paradox: One is being ashamed of your body, which you should never be. Also, at least in Germany, being nude does not imply being sexual. The other is being able to be tracked down by a Stasi-like organisation. The two seem vastly different to me :)

Any understanding of European cars must start by looking at the fuel prices - that, and the narrow streets in most European cities. The hatchback is a pragmatic, compact choice, it's not about style. You can fold down the rear seats and have a two-seater with a great, big cargo space.

that's what I don't understand about Americans: they are afraid of nudity, but for $35 you can get the whole background check including political affiliation, gun license, addresses, relatives, etc.

German here and I love the "closed on sunday" thing, even though I've heard so many complaints about it from people, who come here for the first time. It's just one day of the week, so it's not a big deal. It's a nice feeling to know, that the whole country is off that day and everyone just taking a break and spending time with friends or family. It's especially great for the cashiers though

Since I didn't see this mentioned yet: The German (or partly European) love for hatchbacks is not only because of practicality and price, but also strongly influenced by the first VW Golf, which was insanely successfull, and it's successors. That very much imprinted the visual style of "what is a good, middle-class car" and it's success influenced other car makers to build similiar cars, amplifying the effect. Since these cars were affordable but had relatively good performance (less mass means better acceleration and handling), they also became a staple of car enthusiasts, who would tweak their cars, thus making them cool.

American here, and I think the hatchback is the absolutely best car model! You can haul a lot, without having to climb into a giant truck. My first car was a VW Rabbit, and my current is a Subaru Impreza Hatchback.

11:43 Not true. By law, the cheapest drink on the menu needs to be non-alcoholic. And a new EU law recommends that restaurants provide plain tap water for free, so it is on the horizon for that to become reality. You can always ask for it, though.

native german here. in my opinion the biggest advantage of the three educational pathways after elementary school is that kids who have a higher aptitude in crafting than in academics aren’t made to feel like failures, or “stupid” when they attend hauptschule. personally, i think that the american high school system is savagely barbaric to any kids who don’t fit a “norm”. the idea of school lunch and its social implications (“you can’t sit with us at the popular table!”), basically turning what should be a break into a fierce popularity contest, especially for adolescents yet unsure about their own identity and with little self-esteem, gives me the creeps. 😳

8:20 is so funny to me, I'm 27 and I dread paying with my card not because of privacy but, just because it's so easy to swipe a card for unnecessary purchases, but it kinda hurts pulling out 100 bucks from your wallet and handing it over. So it's like a "I'm trying to be mindful of my spending" kinda thing.

Number Nine: There actually is a law in Germany, that says in any restaurant or bar the cheapest drink can't be alcoholic. It can have the same price as water or cola, though.

the pride thing: dude i dont need a flag when almost everywhere in the world "Made in Germany" is regarded as a mark of quality.

I love your videos keep up with the good work🙌👏

As a german I must say that I absolutely loathe the grocery store situation when people don't keep enough distance.

In the US you get free water and free refills in a restaurant but at the same time you have to tip because the waiters are getting paid next to nothing. In Germany a big part of a restaurants earnings are coming from the beverages and they are in turn used, to pay living wages.

The thing with the compact class of cars, which most hatch-backs belong to, is that they are simply more practical in european cities. The cities and villages are in general a lot smaller and "wrinkly" as compared to their american equivalent. A compact car with a short wheelbase makse just more sense. And with the hatch-back design you gain room for passengers and a bigger trunk. Furthermore the reason, why also young people consider hatch-backs "cool" is, that manufacturers offer more sporty version of those cars, dating all the way back to the first VW Golf GTI from 1976. In the UK car journalist scene, the term "Hot-Hatch" emerged, referring to high performance hatch-back cars, that offer a lot of power and driving fun compared to a relatively low price (compared to the sporty version of german sedans or actual sport cars). A few examples would be: Golf GTI, Audi S/RS3, Clio RS, Megane RS, Focus RS, Lancia Delta Integrale, Peugeot 205 Gti + the Japanese wildcard Honda Civic Type R. And in fact a lot of euro hot-hatches, that were not offered in the US, are highly admired by amarican car enthusiasts. Sincerely, a german car enthusiast :)

I´m german and i like ur videos but when u said "germany such a tecnologicly developed country" i (a more out of the big city living guy) kinda gulped xD

I still remember going to L.A. My first time in the USA. I asked the hotel clerk if there's a restaurant that we could walk to. He was shocked and said: "Nobody walks here" :D

As German i rly don't understand what being naked has to do with privacy xD no one makes photos or records it so for me i don't understand how u can compare that xD i require 100% privacy but being naked in a sauna has nothing to do with that for me xD

I would never have thought of associating the general respect for privacy with the willingness to show oneself naked to others. For me, these are two completely different things. Privacy is about having a protected private area, which among other things also gives security against being monitored and spied on. When I go to the sauna, it's not just my voluntary decision, but it's a controlled situation where everyone else present is in the same situation as me. Apart from that, nudity reveals little about me as a person, my life, my opinions, etc., so it is far less "dangerous".

Hey NALF, I think it’s the first time in my life I sit down in the evening and react to a video, but you seem a cool guy and I appreciate every American abroad. I also have a personal interest in culturally based behaviors and their differences and stories. I liked your video and wanted to give you some background info on where these things are rooted. So here we go… Privacy, In particular online privacy. First, when you live in a tighter space you desire a necessarily smaller but firm privacy space. The online privacy mania in Germany is also rooted in the deep fear of institutions. When the mood flipped in early Nazi Germany, most people were taken hostage by the regime like the Russians are today by theirs. This resulted in the desire to leave a low footprint to pinpoint you and your views. German culture is in general more risk aware and fearful. This is a result of more than 2000 years of being the main battleground in Europe. With its central position, each and every Army in Europe went at some point from east to west or north to south and vice versa. Armies passing by means, rape, theft, fire, and loss for the normal folks. Countries that lay within natural borders like France, Italy, Spain, and the US do not have this intrinsic fear to be run over by someone. The Hatchback, Yea, is a thing. With such small spaces and denser traffic, smaller means more freedom. You can easer squeeze it somewhere. German inner cities are so restricted, that you sometimes feel like a prisoner in your own car, not able to stop and exit. So, smaller and more dynamic looking is sexier for us. We also like sedans ..:) The Sunday comes from a strong catholic tradition to rest and celebrate, beginning with wine in the church in the morning ;) . America is protestant, which is in itself a more prudent and work-focused culture. Credit cards are indeed not a thing for three reasons. One is the footprint mentioned above. The other is while there was only ONE dollar in the last 100 years, there were 9 different currencies in Germany. Often with robust, or no change values for common folks. Therefore the desire to have it on you in cash. You know what you got. The third has to do with the above-mentioned risk awareness, this time towards financial management and the fear of getting in dept. While debt is common in the US, people here try to avoid it. Credit cards easily let you lose track of what you spend. Personal space has to do with more space in general in the US. This results in bigger personal space, further talking distance, and a louder speaking voice. No flags are also a result of the Nazi times. It is a mix of shame and fear of where nationalism can lead. Germans live their pride a lot over the stuff they make. Yeah, the water thing sucks. Period. Keep asking for tab water, we need to change that. Walking and cycling rocks indeed. You can reach most things on foot because at that time the cities were built. Rebuilt cities after the war are more designed around cars, like Berlin. Traffic lights have their root in the German empire, which was tightly organized and very rule-based, sometimes to a silly extent. It puts following the rule and trust in the organization behind the above making your own assessment of the traffic situation. No Idea where the staring comes from, but tight eye contact among men and women is common in all Scandinavian cultures. Could have a Germanic root, but this is just an assumption. No need to be surprised about the Cigarettes. Germany is just behind the US. There were times like this in the US too until the late 90s. It is rather a regulation thing.

I’m in Germany right now and the paying for use of public toilets really gets me. It’s a basic human need and frankly they’re no cleaner where one pays as opposed to where you don’t have to pay.

The trafic light thing: German roads aren't usually gridlike, therefore a lot of junctions aren't 90° 4 way crossings. If the trafic lights were on the other side of the Road you probably would often confuse, which light is for which lane

the hatchback appeal is not a german "thing" but European as a whole .... here in spain LOTS of cars are hatchback ...

Great videos - I learned a lot about my country by watching the impression foreigners get when experiencing our culture...

Thank you for your videos! And than you guys for your comments and real stories. It a wonderful way to learn about cultural differences, and a fun too.

I use "real" cash because I can see and feel how much I am spending it. Most people fall for the debt trap, because they are spending more money with their credit cards than actually have a money reserve. When you use a credit card you see a number on a screen. That's it. But when you pay with cash you see how much it is in reality.

As an European who lived in two different European countries, I am not shocked by closed shops. I never lived in Germany but I visited, but to me closed shops are normal and 24/7 open shops are rare and shocking

Regarding the profanity aspect: while it is true that there is some kind of detachment when it is not your language, we Germans also do the same thing in German. No one makes a big deal out of using profanity, unless the circumstance is inappropriate (meaning you're in a professional setting like the workplace, court/police or dealing with one of the Ämter etc.). Also, while people do tend to try not to teach children (as in little children) "bad words" and when a small child will go around yelling really bad swear words at people, the responsible adults will tell the child that "we don't say words like that", it is generally accepted as just a normal fact of life that everybody, including childrem, swear. That's also the reason why swear words in Germany generally also don't affect the age rating of a piece of media, on the contrary there is a very popular children's book and movie franchise in Germany called "Die Wilden Kerle" which is FAMOUS for it's prevalent and very innovative swearing, there's even a list of swear words that are made up by this franchise. And yes, it is very much considered children's media. Matter of fact, it even happens from time to time that the German dubs of American children's shows, which do not include any swear words, have (usually mild, not incredibly offensive) swear words actually ADDED in. One example that immediately comes to my mind is for example in Spongebob Squarepants, the German version of the song F.U.N. includes the word "Scheiß' " which is a shortening of "Scheiße" which is obviously German for "shit".

Thanks for naming the chapters one, two, three, ... Didn't want to know where to skip to anyway

Six: paying in cash: I think privacy is a reason but not an important one. It is scientifically proven that you spent less money by paying in cash as you can literally see the money flow. I am glad that it is inconvenient spending money and therefore more difficult to get into dept and/or save more money. Also americans see having dept as the norm because of their student loans or credit card score system. But here having dept is seen as sth negative or only acceptable in certain instances like building or buying a house. Guilt and dept are literally the same word 'Schulden' in german. Feli and Josh did an episode on their podcast Understanding train station about the differences in money and finance.

My take on trafficlights: In the US 99% of the crossroads are like this: "+", while in Europe there is a good amount of crossroads that look more like this: "*". If you had the traffic lights at such a crossroads on the opposite side, that would lead to great confusion.

Nice video :) Interesting to hear other people's perspectives

Lucky for you that you haven't been in Germany like 20 years ago, when smoking inside restaurants was legal and extremely common. I hated it and i'm so happy they now need to be in a separate room or outside. Huge improvement from my perspective.

About that "privacy"-paradox: there is a difference in being looked at your body and being able to be tracked and to be predicted in everything you want and you do😂 that is a completely other "privacy"

The privacy thing is actually pretty simple: Nudity in public is non-permanent, it's kinda the "what happens here stays here and most importantly in this moment" idea, therefore it's regarded with a certain amount of relaxation. Stuff on the internet on the other hand stays there forever, so it's regulated heavily.

Hey Nalf, your video is one year old but I really appreciate your efford taken. I was working ten years as freelancing genealogist and from 2017 on also in the US on several occations. My clients always used to ask me what is 'different' about Germany and so I made a lot of thoughts in the direction your video goes. 1. The movie titles. Actually, nobody asked me about that (because nearly nobody of 'my' Americans had been to Germany) but I was wondering myself and I really don't know. It seems to me like a really bad habit, because if you go to the Netherlands or to Italy you won't find it there. Might be because we have - for Europe- such a big market and they try to serve it. I wish they wouldn't do that. 2. Our school system is like 120 years old and it was build to serve the needs of the "Kaiserreich" (the German Empire). While it makes sense to see whether a child has more abilities in the crafts and educate children to become a "Beamter" (clerk) after all the time the educational reserach made progress. Nearly half of my family are teachers and educating teachers, and I was teaching my self at university so I believe I have some knowledge about learning biology, pedagogy and didactics. Educational research since the 1960s shows relatively clearly what children and schools need. For example, more staff, a better response to the needs of children. According to this, for example, the 'sorting' of children at the age of 9 is rather harmful, because many children are only at the same developmental level to some extent when they enter puberty, so that one could only then look at where their abilities lie. There are many examples that show that our school system is contrary to our actual, human learning abilities. But then everyday practical aspirations play a role, or simply political ideology. There are also studies that show that e.g. the conservative parties have a greater interest in maintaining the tripartite school system (a CDU member once told me that he didn't want his children to go to grammar school with 'others' - aka underclassmen - because that would destroy his child's educational opportunities), while e.g. federal states that were governed for a long time by the SPD or the Left (Thuringia, for example) do not separate children until the 6th grade. While you described quite well why I think our education system is good on the one hand (promoting careers in the trades), there is strong criticism that it cements inequality of opportunity (we are regularly criticized by the UN for this). My personal experience is that in the last 20 years there have been such cuts in personnel that kindergartens and schools can only operate patchwork. And because they don't have the time to apply pedagogical and didactic principles in the classroom, especially in the upper grades, everyone teaches as they themselves have learned. This means frontal teaching, as it was held before 1960, which in turn means that one must already have a very good teacher or school management, that all the scientific achievements of the last 50 years are also applied to the education of children. 3. Privacy. Yes. *sigh* I was in Salt Lake City at RootsTech in 2017, which was pretty impressive. I learned a lot about setting up a business in the US then, because they had extra classes on exactly that topic. I loved how much easier it seems to be to finance a startup in the US. The Roots Tech is about Geneology and back then they introduced many startups dealing with exactly that topic. One company stood out for me because they sold the 'whole package' to their clients with getting the opportunity to set up a family tree, to implement pictures and also texts, where one could write down why a person died and whether they had a known illness or a genetic defect. This! This is the difference for me between Germans and Americans. I met so many clients that would fill out the blanks gladly without having one thought about what a company would do with all the information. Big data is nice but not with the experiance we as a country had with the Nürnberger Gesetze during the Third Reich when people were sorted out and brought to death because of an entry in the "Familienbuch" the Nazis invented for every person in Germany back then. And the "Familienbuch" was sold to them as "hey, nice to have it because of Geneology". So, we love to have the choice and that is why we go out into a Sauna and are fine with nudity. Because at this point we have a choice about what we are doing. But we hate it when an institution makes us to leave our data and we later learn they cashed in or - more sinister - used it against us at one point. I know, there are laws in the US but I would be so, so carefull with what I give away! 4. For the cars - I never thought about that. But what I love about our car is that it is so streamlined that when I roll down a hill I don't need to accelerate because my car just rolls and rolls and rolls. ;)

The privacy paradox: being nude at the beach has also a historical background. It was a typical practice but was forbidden by the GDR (east German) regime which then resulted in a protest where more and more parts at the beach were specifically used for the FKK. Over the years the government fell to their citizen’s own rules. My family is from the former GDR and I live in the old parts and here it is still very common for this free body culture.

I am now 68 years old, have lived in the US all my life, although I have vacationed in Germany a couple of times, but many of these items are time/age related. For instance in the 70's when I first had jobs, smoking occurred everywhere, on the street, on public transportation, in the office, etc. After years of no-smoking campaigns it is different. When I was young, up to my teens, pay toilets were normal here in the US, there was frequently either an attendant or a coin operated latch on the toilet door. Then they just disappeared. As a young person walking was way more common, my mother used to say we all had car-seat-behinds. Also, until the last 30 years traffic lights were on the near side of intersections with no overhead component. Prior to the 70's all transactions were in cash. Working my way through college in a store we at first had paper credit cards with just printed numbers, and they were somewhat unusual, things were probably 60% cash and 40% personal checks. So many of these things are modern American culture, not 'pure' American culture.

About the traffic light situation: I recently got to know the reasoning behind it. When the traffic lights first came to be, they ran a number of tests on where to put them in the intersection, apparently, they even experimented on putting them smack in the middle of the intersection. But they found that only putting them on the close side guaranteed that cars would not roll too far into the intersection and therefore hinder pedestrians and bicycles from crossing. Which I heard is a common issue in the US, just not as known because there are so few pedestrians and bikes. If you have issues with looking up: just stop a little bit earlier 😉

Three: As people already said in the comments the privacy paradox, is not a paradox. I just about have full control over your privat data and with how much people you want to share it. Four: A car has not to be cool, it has to be „praktisch“. Much more storage space for hatchbacks. Kombis often help to handle long vacation trips with big family or moving furnitures. SUV is a step backwards. Five: In some states shopes are open until 10pm, but normally its 8pm and currently for smaller specialized shops there is even a trend to close earlier because of the lack of customers in inner cities. Its just pure cost-benefit calculation. Twelve: You are right!

as a Polish person I always found hatchbacks quite cool (visually) maybe not super sporty, a little bit more on the comfortable side, but still good visually with different edges, curves and angles American cars I always imagined as big and blocky (also cool btw) the only car I'd see as goofy would the the Japanese kei-car type

When I was Navy, I was stationed in Naples, Italy. At one of the local restaurants, there was a German waiter who married into the family that owned the restaurant. He was assigned to serve the Americans since he spoke the best English. He always made sure when we asked for water if we wanted the mineral water or the still (tap) water since that's a big difference in Europe.

I dont get why people want to get EVERYTHING daily. You don't need to buy food every day or anything else. if something is opened 24/7 or 7 days a week then the workers are really exploited by their company.

From the deepest of my heart, I completely agree with you about that hatchback thingy. "Dorky" goes very well with it.

I actually was grateful about the fact they walked more. Almost everything we do in Germany involves walking as well as the rest of Europe that I have traveled so far.

Talking about explicit language in music: It makes sense that, with English as a secondary language explicit songs are not recognized as such. But ever heard of KIZ? It’s basically their stick. Swearing and offensive lyrics. And some of their songs are regularly played on radio shows. For us Germans it is sometimes weird to listen to the American radio version of some songs. Because the explicit part is either cut out, silent or weirdly changed and it doesn’t make sense anymore. But that probably only counts for those of us speaking more or less fluent English.

My biggest gripe with card payments is how easy it is to lose track of your spending. When I was a teenager I started to develope extremely unhealthy eating habits, mostly due to depression, and I'm glad I have this time behind me. Of course defeating this depression was hard but the most helpful to combat the addiction, but it was also in part due to starting to pay cash, especially when buying groceries. It's just a different feeling when you have to fork out dozens of Euros everytime you buy snacks, especially when you have to get money at the ATM regularly even though you always get quite big sums. When before I would just swipe my card and forget about it, while now I would actually have to budget, especially when my cash is running low. It showed me that just because I could afford it doesn't mean it's good to spend all that money.

I just laughed so hard when you talked about the traffic lights! The first time I encountered a traffic light here in the US I stopped in the middle of the intersection.... and what is up with 4-way stop signs on straight roads where one clearly should have the right away? After 20 years here in the US, I still cannot get used to that.

Good one thanks

Worse cars are cars with trunks, what you call a sedan. They have this bar for the trunk cover, you cannot get a fridge or a TV set or a lawn mower or a bicycle into the car, although there is sufficient space - but the opening is too small. It's made for bags only.

In Austria there's a law about the "Jugendgetränk". In the menu there must be at least one nonalcoholic drink that is cheaper than the cheapest alcoholic drink.

hi nalf i love your vids and how you show us your daily life in germany explain the drawbacks and differences to the us the only bad thing is that you sometimes talk abbout sometthing and generellize it and i feel that is sometimes just a regional thing or a part of germany thx for the good content thoug

Fuel efficiency 🤷🏻‍♀️ Gets me everywhere and the upkeep is fine.

Regarding the movie titles: In Germany, it's legally not possible for two works to share the same name, that's why they change so many movie titles and sometimes add a sentence into the title to distinguish the movie from another one that has the same name. It's just not allowed to have the exact same title if another work already has it. And when there's no other work with the same name, they sometimes change it for cultural or linguistic reason. The example you gave might actually be one of those instances. Even though many Germans speak English, there's still a big percentage that don't speak it well, maybe even just a few words or not at all. Taken is a word that only those with a relatively intermediate grasp of the language will understand in this context, so they might've decided to change it to something else that more Germanys, even when they don't speek English, will understand. 96 Hours will be understood by most, since the English word hour is close to the latin "hora", which is used as an abbreviation for hour in German.

There is huge difference between privacy and prudery. We love Station Wagons. If we can't afford them (or thing they are to big and expensive) we buy a hatchback. Sedans are considered as impractical, what they are. Looking cool is for most germans not that important.

About the flag thing, as a German, yes, you rarely see our flag here. But I think that also goes for quite a few other countries in Europe. It's actually America that is excessive with their flag waving. I don't know many other countries that do that. And visiting other countries, I don't see it happening either. And staring? I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never been stared at in Germany. We also have the cultural rule that staring is impolite, it's not like that's not a thing here. XD And we don't go around staring at each other. Germans tend to mind their own business in my experience.

This is the funniest video I’ve ever watched, thanks

You're on to something when you partially defend the education system: in Germany, being a skilled craftsman was always a ticket to, or a way to stay in, the economic middle class. There was never a stigma in not being a university graduate. Many people with technical qualifications out-earn so-called Akademiker (they do in the US, too). America would do well to rediscover its respect for people who do skilled work with their hands, as this is absolutely critical for a functioning industrial economy. I always like to say that a gender studies professor will at some point need the services of a plumber, mechanic, or heating technician, but the plumber will probably never need a gender studies professor.

The movie titles sometimes have to change because the US title is already copyrighted in the EU. That was for example the case with Moana (Vaiana in German). Moana is the European trademarked name of an Italian porn Star (for obvious reasons that miraculously didn't upset anyone in the US). Vaiana vaguely resembles Hawaii, so they went with that.

The 3-Path school system actually isn't as harsh in my opinion. Because even if the kids develop and understand things a little later, they are able to move up depending on their grades. Speaking from personal experience: I was held back in 9th grade at the gymnasium level because of some psychological issues. Decided to just go to the Realschule to finish grades 9 and 10 (because after grade 10 you get a diploma that lets you do basically most apprenticeships and smaller jobs). After not knowing what to do right after school, I decided to just go back to the gymnasium and now have a diploma I can use to go to university.

Yes, just yes. I am german and the physical space thing is definitely bothering me aswell. I think it's just not a thing in many peoples heads that it comes of as inpolite or bothersome. It's not rude or annoying to them so they just dont take it into consideration. Often times I try to educate them in the nicest way possible to keep their distance. Sometimes it backfires but other times they say sorry and maybe learn something.

Things I don't understand about Americans as an Austrian: "Everything is closed on Sundays, oh no!" But No: not "everything" is closed on Sundays. Museums, Zoos, family parks, cultural facilities, a lot of cafes and restaurants etc. are still open, it's just most shops, but shops or shopping is not "everything" I totally agree with the first two points, they are somewhat stupid and don't make much sense (and most of my friends would agree). The personal bubble stuff seems great, because I am a person who actually would appreciate a bit more space between other people sometimes. Tab-water not being free in Germany actually (as in you don't even get tab-water at the restaurant for free?) surprises me, because only yesterday at a restaurant we got a can of tab-water additionally to our drinks without asking and it just seems normal? And there are water wells?/dispersers in the city with free and fresh drinking water. Playing explicit English songs really is not seen as a problem, people often even don't notice the language, lol. I grew up with a lot of such songs without knowing the meaning until my English got better and I managed to catch the words but then the songs are so ingrained that you just don't really 'integrate' that in your mind. Kind of stupid if you think about it. But yeah, I think you are right these words probably don't impact me as much if they are in English. At least I didn't get 'brainwashed' since a young kid, hearing and understanding such songs. Because nobody can tell me this does not influence toddlers or kids, even if they might not be played at big family events, but media and pop-culture are prevalent nonetheless and even with beeped out words (lol, weird) people do get the general gist of things. Beeping out 'dirty' words is another weird American thing (as if the word itself is dirty and evil, but the meaning it conveys is all fine no need to think about it, be hateful but use a beep around "you f*BEEP n*bEEp*" AND all is good - the beeps also sound so unnerving and aggressive). Could all this be one reason why some US American males come off as so extremely aggressive, sexist and racist and angry? No offense, not everyone of course, but yeah. There is this certain type. I do like that US Americans don't smoke and smoking is not as prevalent there. That seems great.

How can water NOT cost money? I mean when you buy water in a restaurant it's not the chlorine bomb one gets in the States, but pure, healthy mineral water full of, err, minerals. Also water does not taste the same, that's why each mineral water belongs or is a brand. In every average Supermarket you have a variety of about 20-30 different waters, sometimes much much more. At our "Drinks Market" around the corner I counted 48 different Mineral Waters and 57 different beers. Pick one ... ;-) OH: I recounted the waters, the shop has 61!!! 4 from France, 2 from Italy and 55 from Germany.

I just want to say here how greatfull I am for reading all your comments on this and other KZfaq channels. I get first-hand info and exchanging experiences from people from all around the world, about topics that interest me evry much, just sitting behind my computer, not having to travel for this...how lucky are we? Technology has a lot of disadvantages but this is one of the big advantage: we share unfiltred information, free from institutes, dogmas or other restrictions....I might have hope that this way world peace and understanding will come closer a bit faster......! And I know how cheesy that sounds but I dont care🙃....cheerio to all and people who take the time to make these cool KZfaq videos..🤗 every personal experience, whether agreeable or not, is valuable!

Nailed it!

Hm, the privacy paradox are some completely different things for me: I dont care very much if someone sees me naked in sauna (as long as nobody takes pictures 😉). But my data protection is a completely different thing. I dont want to be spied on by anyone about my hobbies, my doings, my opinions, my property, my possessions or finances. The marketing thing doesnt disturb me that much, but the possibility that someone related to the political or financial system of my country - Germany - or another country disturbs me and frightens me very much... especially with the war going on in Europe...

American nakedness is being, still, driven my the Pilgrims landing "some time ago." German nakedness has no sexual-attraction component - nor should it.

As a German, this was a very interesting watch. Also for the walking thing: when I went to school, I would have to get up early to get the bus, or get up just as early to walk. I walked for 3km every day (back and forth) to get to school. I walked to the city center which would have taken about twenty minutes by bus; instead it took almost an hour to get there. (I'm also broke, always, and enjoy taking extra time to listen to music). Additionally, if you're in Eastern Germany, many people are more likely to know Russian than English (at least where I'm from, most people I know who are previous generations learnt Russian at school).

Staring. Eye contact is a common way to connect and to communicate I'm listening, you get my (full) attention. I remember my parents told me to look into theyr eyes when they where speaking to me. Point of view from a German. I like reaction videos on the country i life in. Then i can see what I'm taking for granted and what's actually nice of our culture.... (Or what is our culture at all) I'm so used to most of it. I used to travel and i peeked into other cultures a bit but the lack or even a bit of a taboo when it comes to patriotism makes it hard to notice culture that could be celebrated. At least in my family there haven't been a culture of celebrating our ancestors or family rituals like Sunday stroll or Sunday cake and coffee time. I guess I'm Reaching out and learning something about Germany here 😁 Thank you for offering another perspective ☺️

You mentioned the Sunday closures. You're probably too young to remember this, but in the US there used to be Blue Laws. This prevented the sale of many, if not most, items on consecutive weekend days. Most businesses were open on Saturday and closed on Sunday. A few businesses closed on Saturday to be open on Sunday (depends on which day your Sabbath fell). I lived in Austin, Texas, back in the early to mid-1980s. During the Christmas selling season one year (1983 or 1984, I can't remember which) Target as well as others decided to defy the Blue Laws and stay open seven days a week. I remember Target because they were featured in a local TV news story about the subject. At the time fines for violating the Blue Law was $50/day. Well, for big department stores this was a no-brainer, just cost of doing business. Texas repealed the Blue Laws in 1985. It was just a part of the secularization of society. The US has become very secular as has much of the world including Germany. Everyone I see who hosts a KZfaq show, if they even mention it, describe themselves non-religious. I am from the other perspective. When I look at these huge, beautiful cathedrals and churches which dominate the city centers in most German towns and in other counties including the US and find that so few people appreciate that, it makes me sad. It speaks to a time when people generally thought religion was very important in their lives to today when attitudes have totally reversed. Were they right then, or, are we right today? Most Germans may be secular, but thankfully they still recognize the need for us to take a day off from work and just relax. Remember, even though you may have the day off and want to go shopping or to some entertainment venue, by doing so, you are requiring someone else to work. So in Germany everyone gets time for themselves.

German pride is a very difficult topic: On the one hand, what you are saying is very true; we don't really show, or "fly" our flag that much (except for world cups) but therefore regional pride is immeasurable. As I feel it for myself, whenever I hear my city's name, I am so proud that I live here and nowhere else. Especially with the big cities/areas like Hamburg, Berlin, Munich or the Ruhr-Rhine area where all regions have different "cultural sights" and their own way of being, we want to hear others talking about it, share their experiences and thoughts about it and generally just get attention pulled towards it because it makes us feel good! (I don't know if it is for others that way too) What is also interesting to observe is the German reaction to online content. Whenever a short video like a TikTok, or something comparable, focuses on or even only contains anything about Germany, people immediately start commenting things like "Diese Kommentarsektion ist jetzt Deutsches Staatseigentum", which basically means that they/we have taken over the comment section. I think it is so amazing to see and interpret this. We can't, but also don't really want to show pride, but we feel it and the fact that I, as a native German, am watching a lot of videos about Germany itself shows that I am proud of my country and that I care for it. At least that's what I think about it.

As far as I remember, a lot of the name changing of movie titles in Germany, has much to do with the cost of TV stations having to pay more money, if they used the original movie titles, because those names were somehow copyrighted or something like that, therefore they would cost more to use and this tax had to be also payed, every single time the movie was displayed somewhere, ,but they found a loophole around that, by changing the movie titles, so then they had to pay less. There could be also other reasons to this, like you mentioned, especially movie titles that translate bad and give the movie a different appearance.

I like your view on Germans and it is entertaining for me as a German. For the topic with the hatchback style of cars: Sedans have been long time seen as cars for old people. To distinguish from them younger people want to have a different type of car -> hatchback like Golf GTI. Please Continue with this kind of videos 👍

I have to strongly disagree on the hatchback front. I bought a Honda Fit in 2019 and it's great. 37mpg, compact, fits in tight city parking, and I can fold the seats flat and have a 6ft bed for equipment/camping/my dog. Once you go hatch, you don't go back

Privacy: We like to keep the *control* over our own privacy. If i decide to show myself naked in the sauna, i'm in control. If my face shows up on some page i don't know about without my consent, i'm not.

No 2: thats right u can go up and down between the diffrent tracks, BUT: its extremly hard to achieve such a change like from the lowest to the highest track. We do have the "Gesamtschule" thats like the US type of schools. There u have the ability to participate on extra units. That makes it way easier to achive the better graduation. On the other hand: you do have every type of student in one class from the beginning, wich can make it more difficult to learn propperly for those who want to achive more than the others.....

Well the Golf is a practical car. Huge trunk so you can put your stuff in without being obstructed by the angled truck of a sedan. Also the back passengers don't have to deal with less headspace because of a downslope in the roof. You could also take out the seats and throw your washing machine in there no problem. Try that with an Audi A4 sedan. Yeah, you could put the V8 Ford F-150 Platinum trim to work for this thing but you don't need all that torque just to haul your washing machine. Also a 1980s standard Ford F-150 is probably more utilitarian, since they actually had an 8 foot truckbed to haul your standard 2 by 4 logs for your construction work while being smaller and lighter, and therefore more maneuverable through town and more fuel efficient. Can't do that in a 2022 Ford f-150 with a standard 6.5 foot truck bed. Less utilitarian, less fuel efficient for more money.

Canadian here who loves a lot of outdoor activities in all seasons. Nothing beats a hatchback: Lower to the ground than trucks or SUVs, so that handling is much better and fun to drive, easier to load and unload skis, kayaks, etc. Sedans not ideal for equipment. It's so much easier to get the snow off the roof, park in smaller places. We think hatchbacks are cool.

4:07 The one thing is privacy the other one is prudery. Don't mix it up. 😉

Spot on

You make some very interesting points i can fully understand. The explicit language is funny though, because most of the curse words nowadays we learned from US culture. But my peruvian gilrfriend always tells me "watch your language", too. Its just too common for us. But like a lot of things, it seems aggressive , but we dont mean it that way.